Shortly after my 15th birthday, I asked my mother, “Am I going to have to do manual labor all of my life?” The wisdom of her response profoundly influenced the direction of my life. She put her hands on my head—one hand on each side—and looking me straight in the eyes, she said: “You have everything you need right here between your ears. You have everything you will ever need to take you anywhere you want to go, to have anything you want to have, and to be anything you want to be.”

I believed her. At that moment I knew the world’s abundance around me was mine—to earn and to possess. I could choose to remain a migrant fruit picker, or I could stake my claim on the world’s resources and riches. The choice was mine, and everything depended on my attitude!

"When people think of themselves as successful, they succeed."

Over the years, I have realized even more fully the powerful role attitude plays in determining success—including financial success. When people think of themselves as successful, they succeed. When they think of themselves as wealthy, they usually become wealthy. In contrast, people who feel inferior act inferior. People who consider themselves failures fail. People who think of themselves as poor remain poor. A poor self-image is an imposing, impenetrable barrier to achieving financial success.

Attitude toward money also determines financial success. What I think about the nature of money is equally as forceful as what I think about myself and my earning potential.

Money itself has no intrinsic value. It is simply printed paper or minted metal worth no more than other paper or metal of comparable size and quality. The difference is made by money’s exchange value.

The paper currency now in circulation consists merely of promissory notes guaranteed by the government. It is backed only by the faith people have in their government. The value of money lies in what others believe it is worth. Its value is based on belief and trust. In this context, money is only an idea.

Most people respect money, but money should earn our respect; in fact, money that is not working is disgraceful. Few wealthy people have a lot of cash because it is invested. It is busy working for them, making more money. For people with wealth, money and its buying power hold no great sense of awe. It is money’s investment power, the power to multiply itself, that commands the interest and attention of those who own it. As a result, most of the world’s money is invested in assets other than cash.

While the impulse buyer is not likely to become financially independent, I have learned by experience that neither is the overly cautious. Those who genuinely know money—with all its characteristic merits and foibles—and use it with judgment and daring gain the prize of financial success. These insightful individuals literally spend their way to wealth as they wisely invest and acquire assets that appreciate in value such as securities, real property, and equities.

When people ask me how they, too, might enjoy the same financial success I have earned, I can almost feel my mother’s hands on my head as her words echo in my memory: “You have everything you need right here between your ears.” First of all, I tell them, believe that you have unlimited potential for financial success and growth. Second, recognize that you are personally responsible for your financial achievements. Third, develop an attitude and belief that money is only an idea.